Mercer County Park Commission offers a variety of nature programs and activities for adults, children, and families. These offerings vary from brisk trail hikes to family-oriented pond explorations. Program participants will have the opportunity to spend time as a family, meet other outdoor enthusiasts, and have an up-close encounter with nature. For details follow the link

Mercer County Parks The Mercer County Park Commission offers a variety of nature programs and activities for adults, children, and families. These offerings vary from brisk trail hikes to family-oriented pond explorations. Program participants will have the opportunity to spend time as a family, meet other outdoor enthusiasts, and have an up-close encounter with nature.

Features a fun, new, science-related activity every Thursday that parents and their six- to 12-year-olds can do together. Adults will find easy-to-follow instructions and simple materials lists as well as additional background to help them explain the key concepts. We hope you enjoy, as science begins in the home.

Abstract: Trade books can be a valuable addition to the science curriculum, if teachers know how to select good ones. Research addressed the qualities of science content in trade books whether explicit misinformation or implicit misinformation inferred from text and illustrations. One study analyzed 50 book around the central question of how accurate is the science content in children's trade books. It found that many of the trade books contained questionable content.

A second study sought to determine what scientific information or misinformation children take away from trade books. This finding revealed that children cannot always discriminate between accurate and inaccurate science content, especially when the content is given in a "science" class. An underlying problem is that erroneous ideas may be retained or interact with new information to produce unintended or unanticipated learning outcomes. Besides assisting teachers to identify and select quality trade book, the author offered a number of strategies for teaching science that combine the strengths of reading and activity-based science instruction.